March 25, 2012

Mt Rainier scouting for field trip

this was a great day for scouting for the first field trip for a new natural history course. Sunny, cool, spring melt is in full swing. Most observations were in two seral stages of cedar, doug fir, hemlock forest; the first site (site 1) was in and around the Pack Forest Experimental Station (the sequoia was clearly planted, the other observations were in the forest, along trails). Trails were in a mixed second growth stand dominated by Hemlock and Douglas Fir, with a bit of cedar, and large stands of bigleaf maple in moist areas. The understory was primarily Salal with a bit of sword fern in dryer areas, mostly sword fern under the maple. The second site (site 2) a late successional stand just inside the boundary of Mt. Rainier National Park. Here, the stand was oldgrowth, dominated by hemlock and cedar, I did not see any Doug Fir, but we did see subalpine fir.

The Bobcat was a locky spot near the road on the way out of the park (see observation notes). I ran into plenty of fungi and bryophytes I'd love some thoughts on, as well as a couple of plants.

Species List (aside from plants in the observation list)
Site one (just listing dominants)
Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)
Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Western red cedar (Thuja plicata)
Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) - leaf buds forming, no leaves

understory
Salal (Gualtheria shallon)
Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium)
Cascade Oregon Grape (Berberis nervosa)
Red Huckleberry (Vaccinum parvifolium)
Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformes)

Site two (just listing dominants)
Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)
Western red cedar (Thuja plicata)
Cones from Grand fir / sub-alpine fir...
Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) - leaf buds forming, no leaves

understory
Devil's Club (Oplopanax horridum)

Posted on March 25, 2012 06:18 AM by tewksjj tewksjj | 10 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 29, 2011

In the Douglas Reserve

Good day botanizing with my 6 year old sun in the Douglas Reserve, a scrubby bit of coastal mesa habitat filled with a mix of native and invasive flora. Coolest find for me was Fiesta Flower (Pholistoma auritum) [thanks for the ID barbarab] and I still have to go check on a few, including my willows, a mystery ribes, and a composite that may be Ox Eye, but my photo was not good enough for a postive ID.

Posted on May 29, 2011 05:24 AM by tewksjj tewksjj | 13 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 27, 2011

New tools for an old trade

I am in the midst of a year focused on the future of natural history; I have been running workshops on this topic, connecting with naturalists from around the planet, and I have been working for the past few years to form an NGO dedicated to preserving the art and craft of natural history (naturalhistorynetwork.org). Natural History is a broad stream with many channels leading into that water - they come from art, from the humanities, from the sciences, and they all share a focused attention to the more-than-human world. In the past year of building this organization, establishing a journal (the journal of natural history education and experience - http://www.jnhe.org/), and documenting converations about the future of natural history (From Decline to Rebirth: the Natural History Initiative - declinetorebirth.org), I have run into a lot of inspiring people, and watched a wide range of ideas take shape, and I have to say that this site - INaturalist - could be among the coolest things I have bumped into in the past year. Among many practicing naturalists, there is a profound sense that the field is declining, and by many metrics, these people are absolutely correct. At the same time, there are truly exciting opportunities for naturalists that would be unheard of even 20 years ago, let along 200 years in the past, and this site, with its capacity to bring a huge number of people into the process of observing nature, is a big step in the right direction. Perhaps one of the most powerful tools available to the 21st century naturalist is the power to draw on each other, to understand things collectively.

Posted on May 27, 2011 10:00 PM by tewksjj tewksjj | 0 comments | Leave a comment

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